Clarity
by The Onceler's Unless
Summary: Josie, a mutant who doesn't know herself, has assisted Charles w/ mutants as best as she could for years. She knows hardly anything about her parents. Everything starts falling apart when Magneto decides to move ahead w/ his plan to rid the world of humans & it gets worse once Logan, a man as lost as her,comes in. Only problem is he is falling in love with someone else. Logan/OC
1. Pilot

_**A/N: **_**So... this is my first X-Men story ever, so please don't hate! I've had this idea in my head ever since First Class, and I just got around to posting it, so please enjoy!**

_**Disclaimer:**__** I don't own any Marvel characters, only my OC Josie! I simply am using all the other characters for my own personal reasons!**_

_**|•|X-MEN|•|**_

"We are witnesses a new stage in human evolution. The mutations appear during puberty, and are often triggered during periods of high emotional stress," A strong, attractive woman in her early thirties - who had brown hair that had a faint red color in it and was known as Dr. Jean Grey - addressed the committee that was in front of us. This was an open hearing; behind the committee members were ordinary Washingtonians who I was mixed in with along with my dad, Charles Xavier.

An image of the human genome was closing down behind Jean. She was concluding her talk about what mutants are and how they came to be. As I stand beside Charles, I find it difficult to believe this was the girl I'd met all those years ago... Also I found it difficult to be around all of these people, in this light room. It was beyond irritating and I just wanted to be back home. I was a recluse.

Jean continued on speaking as thoughts of using my powers right now cruised my mind, my eyes finding Senator Kelly, "We are witnesses a new stage in human evolution. The mutations appear during puberty, and are often triggered during periods of high emotional stress."

Hearing this many times before (Jean wanted to get her speech perfect and recruited me to help her despite my many protests), I easily became bored and start twitching around. It's not long, though, before Charles gave me a look which I immediately still up, but my eyes still darted around the room. It was my ADHD.

As I looked around the room, I noticed a man in a hat and a trenchcoat looking at me. He had blue eyes and looked slightly older than Charles. He was looking at me with the strangest expression... I watched as his eyes moved to Charles. The way this man was looked at him was just so... odd. It seemed like they knew each other. Also, I could've sworn I've seen him somewhere else before.

My attention was brought back from the mysterious older man to the speech as a microphoned voice interrupted Jean. Bearing down on her was the... _flamboyant _Senator Robert Kelly, a conservative from Florida... and, unfortunately, he was the hearing's Chairman. Just behind him sat his not-so-dandy sidekick Henry Gyrich who was in his mid-thirties and was a typical government cog. I had hatred for them both, not only because Gyrich had tried hitting on me this morning, but I put that aside.

Senator Kelly spoke, "Thank you Miss Grey, very educational. But it missed the question that is the focus of this hearing. Three words: are mutants dangerous?"

Instantly I wanted to crush him, and I felt my anger rise. My fists and jaw clenched. "Only if you piss us off by addressing us in smarmy tones of voice," I muttered, which earned a look from Charles, but I whispered to him, "Oh, did I say that out loud?"

The lovely Jean - not affected by him whatsoever - answered his question. "I'm afraid, that's an unfair question, Senator. After all, the wrong person behind the wheel of a car is dangerous,"

"Well, we license people to drive," the Senator argued.

"Yes, but not to live," Jean countered and I smugly smirked. She would have never become good at retorts if not for me. She kept her focus on him. "Senator, the records clearly show that mutants who have chosen to revealed themselves to the public have been widely regarded with fear and suspicion, even violence."

Murmurs of dissent filled the room and I could see that Senator Kelly himself was only listening with half an ear. I watched as Gyrich passed some information into his hand that he was obviously happy to get.

Jean, not giving up, continued. "It is because of this violence that I urge you all to vote against mutant registration. Forcing mutants to expose themselves will only―"

Kelly looked back at her as Gyrich walked away and returned to to his spot at the back of the room. "'Expose themselves'? What is it the mutant community has to hide?" Kelly asked.

"Our plans for world domination and our fetish for black leather," I snorted with a bit of laughter, but it didn't wash away my anger any.

Charles looked over at me. "**Josie," **I heard his voice in my head. "**Calm down, or I'll have to make you leave."**

With a disgruntled sigh, I looked back at the political scene that was unfolding.

Jean started backtracking. "I didn't say they were hiding―"

"Well, let me show you what is being hidden, Miss Grey," Kelly took out a paper and started to work the crowd.

"Senat―" Jean tried, but Kelly wouldn't let her get another word in.

"I have here records of mutants living in the United States," He said. "Here's a girl in Illinois who can walk through walls. What's to stop her from walking into a bank vault? Or into the White House? Or into their houses―?" Kelly looked back at Jean. "And I have even heard, Miss Grey, that there are mutants so powerful that they can enter our minds and control our thoughts... "

I felt myself shaking because of all the cheering people surrounding Charles and I. How could they support this man? I looked over to Charles for some support, but he looked just as deeply troubled by the response Kelly was getting as I was. I reached over to the man in a wheel chair and grabbed his hand.

He glanced at me and held my hand firmly. "**Everything's fine**," He assured me.

"**How can they follow him?**" I thought back to him.

"**They're only afraid of what they don't understand, Josie. Don't blame them for being fearful,**"

"**Will they try to kill us, Charles?**"

"**No, not yet,**"

My stomach churned. _No, not yet. _That scared me beyond words and Charles squeezed my hand tighter at getting my unease.

"Taking away our God-given free will," Kelly finished his speech during Charles and I's exchange, but decided to add on after that to make a point. "I think the American people have a write to decide if they want to send their children to school with mutants. To be taught by mutants. Ladies and gentlemen, the truth is that mutants are very real. And they are among us. We must know who they are, and most importantly, we must know what they can do!"

The crowd reacted loudly in support of the Senator and I couldn't stand it in here anymore.

"Go," Charles whispered to me so I stood and calmly left the room so as to not draw attention, but I did not realize I had been followed until I was already outside in the cool air. I leaned against the railing and looked around at the busy streets. I wondered what it would be like if they knew what was happening in here.

"Troubling, isn't it?" I heard an older voice say from behind me.

I turned to see a figure in a hat and trenchcoat. It was that older man that had been staring at Charles and I. I could see that he taken aback by me. I just didn't know how to respond but I did my best. "Uh, yeah, it is, I guess," I scratched my neck and looked down.

"You guess?" He took a step towards me. "Why are you troubled by Senator Kelly, young one?"

_'Young one'? _Did he seriously just call me 'young one'?

"I guess it just scares me that one man can have so much power to turn a whole room against a group of people... " I shivered at the thought and I could see the clear agreement on his face.

"Are you a mutant?" He asked.

I bit my lip, suddenly feeling a bit uneasy. I mean, what if this man was going to attack me for being a mutant? I didn't know if he was a mutant, but he didn't appear volatile and I knew he wouldn't be successful in taking me down, so why not?

Slowly I nodded to the man.

"You are among friends," He said, holding his hand up. Suddenly the metal bars behind me bent seemingly all by theirselves.

I instantly felt sick. "Magneto," I whispered, looking back at him. "Y-You're Magneto... "

"Yes,"

I folded my arms tighter around me. "I should go, someone will be looking for me,"

"Did Charles not tell you to go?" He took a step towards me. "I could see your anger at the Senator, young one. What is your name?"

I stared at him hard for a long moment. "Josie,"

"No, your real name,"

"That _is_ my real name," I clenched my fists.

"That is not your real name, that is your slave name,"

I snorted. "Um, yeah, my mom named me Josie so I'm going to stick with it,"

"Your mother wouldn't happen to be Sarah Draven, would she?"

I stared at him in shock. "Y-Yes, that's her name... Did you know her?"

"Yes, I knew her very well. You look like her,"

I pushed my hair behind my ear. "Well, she died giving birth to me and I only have one photo,"

"Only one? Does Charles not have more?"

"Why are you so curious?" I raised an eyebrow at him. "Surely it doesn't matter whether or not he does." Right then I noticed that - behind Magneto - Charles rolling up in his wheelchair. "Charles!" I said in relief and walked around Magneto to get to him.

"Go back, Jean was looking for you," He instructed with his serious look.

I nodded, and started to leave, but looked back to Magneto. It just didn't feel right to walk off without saying something else. "It was nice to meet you," I said before walking around a corner. Instead of continuing on, I hid just around the corner to hear what would happen between the two.

I guess now would be a good time to explain that, biologically, Charles wasn't my father, but he had raised me as his daughter. With that said, I always knew growing up that Charles' main... adversary, so to speak, was a man named Magneto and I also knew their history wasn't bitter at the beginning. If I heard right from my many eavesdropping endeavors, they were actually friends. And by what Magneto had just said to me, they apparently had known my mom who indeed had died giving birth to me, but I wasn't exactly sure of all their history together.

Through all of my childhood and most of my adulthood, I was never allowed to meet Magneto in person, though Charles and him had met up in the past for chess and other things. Why I wasn't allowed to meet him, I had no clue because there was no way he could take me down with my powers, and I pressed the matter with Charles because I could just get rid of him. Charles didn't like me using violence, though, so I reframed for his sake even though I was curious why he wouldn't let me meet this one person. Now was my opportunity to learn some things.

"Erik. What are you doing here?" I heard Charles ask Magneto.

"Why do you ask questions to which you already know the answers?" Magneto - whose name was evidently Erik - answered.

"Don't give up on them, Erik,"

"What would you have me do, Charles? I've heard these arguments before,"

"That was a long time ago. Mankind has evolved since then,"

"Yes... Into us,"

I glanced around the corner to see Charles looking sad, but had that look on his face... as if he was looking inside Magneto's mind.

Magneto seemed to notice this as well, and tapped his own temple. "Are you sneaking around in there, Charles? Whatever are you looking for?"

"I'm looking for hope," Charles responded with.

Magneto turned and gave Charles a warm smile. "I will give you hope, old friend. And I ask only one thing in return. Don't get in my way," He started to walk away then turned back. "Josie has grown up significantly from the last I saw of her, Charles. She looks like her mother, but she's a little paler. A trait, I suppose, bestowed by you?"

Charles had a straight face, giving nothing away to the man who was obviously trying to pick some information out of him. "Do not pretend Sarah loved me more,"

Erik, not looking very happy with that response, looked over at me. I just stared back at him with my brown eyes until he turned on his heel and strode out, leaving Charles more troubled than ever, but he did speak as he left, "We are the future, Charles, not them. They no longer matter,"

Something in his words spoke to me, but also it troubled me to have those words do that. I mean, what he said went against everything I was brought up in and went against everything I had adopted as my own morals. Maybe the thing that was appealing to me was the fact it was different from everything I'd ever known in life. New things had always been exciting for me.

Once the man was out of sight, Charles turned towards me. "It's rude―"

"I know, I know, it's rude to eavesdrop, but it's also rude to hide things," I said as I stepped out from my hiding spot. "You won't tell me a thing about the infamous Magneto so I kinda gotta investigate myself nowadays."

"You are very much like a child still, Josie," Charles said as he rolled towards me. "You need not know some things yet, and the relationship that is between Magneto and I is one of them."

"Why does it matter? How does it play such a big role in this?" I rubbed my temples and sighed before continuing. "And what about my mom and you? My mom and Magneto? You can't deny it to me, I heard what you said about my mom Sarah a second ago," I said blatantly. "Even if you did deny it, I wouldn't believe you, Charles Francis Xavier."

He stared at me a long moment before moving past me. "I will explain to you each of those things when you're ready,"

"I've been asking for twenty years now, I think I'm ready! I-I just want to know who my father is and why you won't let me see him," I said as I followed after him. "I get your fears of me leaving you, but I would never be able to... Jean, Scott, Ororo, Hank, and you are my only true family, Charles. I could never leave you all because of one man."

"You don't know the man," Charles said quietly, not bothering to even look at me which I think was him saying it more to himself than me. "Let's not speak of this here, not when all these strangers are around."

"Fine," I sighed, hanging my head. We walked back into the building and were greeted by Jean. "That bad, huh?" I said with a frown as I looked at her beat face; I could see the fatigue on her face.

"I think I just want to go home," Jean sighed and I put hooked my arm through hers.

"It's okay, Jeanie. If you want, I can use my powers on him,"

"Josie," Charles's strong voice caught my attention.

I rolled my eyes. "I'm just picking, unless Jean actually wants me to... "

"No, don't, Jo," Jean said quietly and leaned her tall body against my side. Jean was all leg at her height of 6' 0" while I was only 5' 7". She was all leg and curves while I was a beam pole all over, though I did like to think I had nice legs too. She was just beautiful and I was, well, I considered myself plain, maybe kinda pretty at most.

"They were too cruel about everything," I shook my head. "They're insensitive jerks who are too closed minded to see that we aren't the bad guys."

"Mind your tongue, Josie, they're just afraid of what they do not understand," Charles said from my side as we begun to leave.

I looked down at him with a scowl. "They're afraid of what they can't control," I didn't miss the dreadful look that passed over Charles' face.

I recalled the moment I discovered Charles wasn't my father (I had always called him Charles because it's what I was comfortable with). When my mutant powers came in, I was fourteen and had no clue how to use them. When I learned of them, Charles told me because he didn't want to lie to me anymore since I had pushed for the information about my parents. It was messy for a while after that because then I felt like I didn't belong with any of the X-Men and I was growing into my powers at that time so it was my rebellious stage for quite a while. It ended when Jean, Scott, and Ororo arrived at Xavier's School for the Gifted. I became very close with the three of them because they, too, had just came into their powers. Charles was relieved when I found people my near age to hang out with - with my abilities, it was hard to keep friends.

My powers were complex. I controlled dark matter and could tap into people's greatest fear. Charles said that our powers expand over time, and the fear thing has just been a recent branch. Anyways, it was hard to keep friends because I was able to move shadows and other things normal people weren't supposed to do.

I didn't like using my powers for anything because I felt like it was an unfair advantage, so I learned how to fight. Mainly martial arts, but I did learn some other fighting styles. This being said, I mainly taught defense classes at Charles' school because I just wasn't interested being a doctor like Jean or a teacher like Ororo. I mean, I was a teacher, just not a core class. I interacted oddly with others and was more interested in reading Fantasy than History.

We got in the car and prepared for a long ride home, all of us purposely ignoring the figure in the trenchcoat watching us from across the street.

* * *

**A/N: I hope you enjoyed it! Please review and tell me if you think I should continue!**

~ The Onceler's Unless


	2. Chapter II: Bravery

_**A/N: Thanks to all the followers and reviewers! I appreciate each and every one of you!**_

_**|•••|**_

**"We believe in ordinary acts of bravery, in the courage that drives one person to stand up for another." ― Veronica Roth, Divergent**

When we got back to the mansion up in Westchester, New York, Charles went immediately to his office and Jean to hers while I went to my room. Picking up my phone I dialed a number. After a few rings there was an answer "_Dr. Hank McCoy speaking,"_

"Hey, Hank, it's Jo,"

"_Josie! How are you, dear?_"

"Fine, I suppose... We just got back from the hearing with Senator Kelly and his minion," I sighed. "It was... intense, to say the least."

"_I imagine your attention span_ _didn't make that any easier,"_

"No, not really," I slightly laughed. "How have you been?"

"_Busy_," He admitted and paused for a moment before continuing. "_Charles_ _is afraid Magneto is becoming more of a threat._"

"Well, we have no reason to be afraid of him, right? I mean, Charles and him were friends once... He wouldn't hurt Charles, right?"

There was a long moment of silence before he spoke again. "_I have to go to a meeting, Jo, but I promise to call you as soon as I'm finished,_"

"A meeting... Well, I guess I could say 'have fun,' but I'll just say wish you luck instead,"

I heard him chuckle. "_Thank you,_" We said our goodbyes and hung up. Hank had been like a big brother to me. He was one of the few peoplw I could have a normal conversation with.

I lurked in my room for a few more minutes before I decided I'd go around the school and make sure everything was going good even though I knew nothing was wrong, nothing ever was in this place.

Walking around I passed some mutants who greeted me by my first name. Since I didn't like being considered a teacher, I made everyone call me by my first name especially since my battle name I didn't fancy being called 24/7.

"Hello, Josie," Peter Rasputin greeted me as he passed with a huge box in his hands.

"Hey, Peter," I smiled warmly at him. "Need any help?"

"I'm good, but thanks,"

We waved good-bye and continued on. He had previously had a crush on me when he was younger, but it didn't last very long after he realized I felt the same way considering he was younger than me. He was way too young for me.

While I was walking around the huge mansion, I noticed Charles wasn't in his office and I instantly knew that he was in Cerebro.

Once I got there, I waited patiently by the door, knowing if I showed a sign of impatience that he would take twice as long. I wasn't bored for long because of the sudden I got a sharp pain in my head I fell to the ground, holding my head. Fortunately Scott was just coming down the hall and spotted me. "Josie, are you okay?" Scott asked as he ran to at my side.

"Yeah, I'm-I'm good," I managed out as I stood up straight. "I don't know what happened, my head just started hurting."

"Do you need an ice pack? Should we go see Jean?"

"No, I think I'll be okay," I exhaled and looked over at the door to Cerebro. "He's been in there a while."

"He always stays in there for a while,"

"Well, yeah, but I know he's gotta be seeing at something. What exactly, I have no clue," I went over to the door, my head still pounding but I was able to focus on other things. "But I know if I open the door now he'd be even more upset."

"Maybe we should go wait in his office?"

I stared at the doors for a long moment, debating it in my head. He probably would be in there for a while so I might as well. "Yeah, yeah... I guess we should," I nodded in agreement and we started heading down the hall. "I met Magneto at the hearing."

"Really?"

"Yeah, he called me _young one_," I softly laughed as I pressed the button on the wall. The elevator door slid open and we stepped in. "I'm twenty-nine years old and I'm still called _young one_."

"You can blame that one on your parents, their the ones who decided to have you," He said and instantly cringed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"No, it's fine," I cut him off as the elevator door closed and we went up a floor. Everyone knew I didn't know my parents and that it was a touchy subject.

As we headed towards Charles' office, Ororo caught up with us. "What is going on?" She asked. "The Professor said I needed to meet him in his office."

"Maybe we get to go on a mission to save the world," I nudged Scott with a smile, wondering how long we'd have to wait for Charles in his office.

"You'd enjoy that too much,"

"Yes, I would," When we got into Charles office, he was already there. "Seriously, how do you do that?!" I demanded. There had to be hidden passages that not even I knew anything about, there was no other explanation for him beating us here.

Charles ignored my question as he turned his wheelchair to face us. He looked quite grim. "There are two mutants that Magneto is after in Northern Alberta, Canada; they go by Wolverine and Rogue."

"Male and female?" I inquired.

Charles nodded with a grim face. "I'm afraid this might be a huge move in Magneto's grand scheme."

"Well, count me in!" I was practically jumping up and down in excitement. Charles didn't always let me go on missions to retrieve other mutants, but it appeared this time would be different as he didn't fight me.

"Please be careful, Josie," Charles said as I left to go get suited up.

"What fun is that, Charles?" I called back with a grin. "And whenever have you known me to be careful?"

* * *

Within minutes we were in our leather suits - which were tight fitting but strangely comfortable and easy to maneuver in - and on our way to Northern Alberta, Canada in the Blackbird.

During our rides we kind of just sat there in silence since we really didn't know what we would be getting into. We didn't know anything other than the fact they were mutants and their names. I would never be afraid because I had nothing to fear other than for the others' safety.

Once we arrived to the place, we headed over a road - Charles had told Scott and Ororo after I left where they should be by the time we reached them - and it was snowing and freezing cold. We traveled over a road on the side of the mountain until we spotted a car wreck where two men were fighting. One of the two were Sabertooth and I felt myself grow angry. I had fought him a few times before and absolutely hated him. The other man I didn't recognize but he was being beaten badly by Sabretooth, though he did have good moves even if they weren't good enough to beat Sabretooth.

Ororo landed the Blackbird while Scott and I prepared to go after them. "Why Canada?" I asked aloud. "I mean, isn't it always cold here? Wouldn't you want some sun every now and again?"

"Not everyone thinks like you, Jo," Scott pointed out.

"They should, I'm pretty amazing," I smirked over at him.

"_That_ would be a bad world,"

"Ouch,"

"Don't act like you're hurt,"

"Don't act like you're mean then, it doesn't suit you," I playfully nudged him.

"Children, we have to go pick up the others," Ororo said as she stood after landing the Blackbird. She opened the door and we rushed out.

When we got to the fight, the man that Sabretooth had been fighting was lying limp on a truck's hood. I felt absolute fear from the girl in the truck and looked over to notice there were flames growing in the truck.

Sabretooth was going to move in on them both when the wind and snow picked up. Ororo was trying to distract him.

"Get the girl, I got him," I said as Sabretooth noticed us behind him. He turned to face us and Ororo made the wind and snow begin to concentrate on him, aiming themselves at him like a weapon. It began to push him back.

Glancing over at Ororo, I saw dark skin, eyes with no pupils and her white hair. She was so awesome.

Looking over at Scott, I gave him a nod. He have a short nod back before looking back at Sabretooth and touching the knob on his visor. A brilliant red laser beam blasted forth. Sabretooth leapt away from it and I leapt at him.

My fist connected with his jaw first and then I kicked him in the abdomen, sending him flying back into a pile of snow. I smirked at him. "Long time no see, sweetheart. I was so disappointed you didn't call,"

He growled and jumped to his feet. I pulled my daggers out and prepared to fight, but... He ran off. He never did that! It was always a fair fight between, but now I sensed fear from him. But why?

I started to go after him, but I saw that Scott was having difficulty removing the man from the hood of the truck. Sliding my daggers back into the hidden departments on my suit, I ran over and helped him yank the man up. We carried him over to where Ororo was waiting with the girl.

Within seconds the truck exploded behind us.

I looked over at the frightened girl who was staring at us wide-eyed. Her fear was very evident. "Hey, you can calm down, if we wanted you dead, you'd already be dead,"

"Josie," Ororo chastised before turning towards the girl. "We are not here to harm you, we are here to help you."

"I've heard that before," The girl said, a country accent dripping off her words.

"Hey, if you want to freeze out here... " I started to say.

"No!" She quickly said and looked at Ororo. "I-I can trust you all?"

"Of course," Ororo smiled at her. "I'm Storm, and this is Cyclops and-"

"Call me Josie or Jo if you will," I quickly interrupted Storm. "You must be Rogue."

Fear and surprise practically radiated off. "How did you know my name?"

"We'll explain it on the Blackbird," I said as Scott and I moved down the road to where we had landed. "It's freezing out here!"

"Suck it up, Jo," Scott nudged me. I scoffed and nudged him back.

We all got back to the Blackbird and laid who I was guessing was Wolverine down across able few seats at the back. Rogue and I hovered over him as Scott and Ororo prepared to take off. "Is he gonna be okay?" Rogue asked me with her wide brown eyes. She pushed her brown hair out of her face with her gloved hands.

"Should be," I said, getting a good look at Wolverine. "Do you know his name?"

"He said it was Logan,"

I carefully studied his face. He had dark brown hair that was slightly pointed up on the sides. He looked pretty tall, at least 6 foot 2 inches and he was ruggedly handsome. He honestly looked like he would be a lumberjack.

"Hey, thank you for saving me back there," She said.

I looked back at her, nodding curtly. "Rogue, go to Scott and Ororo, they'll explain everything," I said as I sat down beside Logan's head. Feeling her fear, I added on, "I promise I won't hurt him." She stared at me another moment before she complied.

I looked back down at the man and gently moved my fingers across his face. He was handsome...

I shook as my head with a sigh I slumped back in the chair and closed my eyes. I wasn't going to loose my head over some guy that I hadn't even formally met.

What only felt like seconds was apparently longer because Storm called back to me, "We're back," Ororo called back to me.

"Alright," I called back as I sat forward, rubbing my temples. I was surprised I had even been able to sleep at all; usually nightmares plague my sleep, but not just now.

Looking down at Logan, I felt my stomach churn. I wasn't sure how to feel about any of this.

_**|•••|**_

_**Please leave a review! Logan and her will officially meet in the next chapter!**_

_**~ The Onceler's Unless**_


	3. Chapter III: Your Eyes

_**A/N: Thanks for the reviewers/followers! I combined two chapters because they both just seemed too short... So here it is!**_

_**|•••|**_

_**"She couldn't turn away from the eyes that held her. Eyes as deep, as Dark as the night, yet there was something that sparked with warmth, that kept those eyes from being cold." ~ Lora Leigh**_

Once we got back, it was past one in the morning. I helped Scott carry Logan down the the medical ward for Jean to take care of him while Storm took Rogue to talk to Charles. After handling that and changing into comfortable clothes, I went straight to Charles' office where Rogue and him were speaking.

"I assure you that you are safe here, Rogue," Charles said as I walked in.

I sat down in the chair beside her in front of his desk. "Have you decided to stay, Rogue?"

"Yes, I believe I will,"

I nodded and looked over at her. "You'll need to learn defense then. Class is usually at ten-thirty in the morning, but you need to catch up on what we've already learned so tomorrow you'll report at nine-thirty. Come in something loose."

"Yes, ma'am,"

"Don't call me ma'am, it makes me feel old. Call me Josie," I picked up a book off of Charles' desk and flipped through it, not really paying attention to any of the words. "What is your power, Rogue?" There was a stiff silence and I could feel that Rogue was uncomfortable. She looked down at the ground.

"Hey, there's no need to be ashamed," I said, sitting the book down. I reached over to place my hand on her arm but she flinched away. I looked back over to Charles with a questioning look.

"Josie, would you show Rogue her room?" He gave me strict look. He was unhappy at something and I think it was more than likely me.

"Sure," I stood and headed towards the door. As I headed out, I heard Charles in my head, **Be kind, Josie. She is harmless... for the most part.** I rolled my eyes at that reassuring statement.

She followed me out of the office and we started going down the hallway. She was nervous and would not meet my gaze. "So-" I cleared my throat. "-how long have you known Logan?"

"Only a few hours,"

"Really?" I raised my eyebrow. "You're awful protective of him for it to to be that short of time."

"He's the first person like me that I've met,"

"Well, now you know others," I said and she finally looked over at me.

"What is your power?"

"I can do two different things... One, I can manipulate dark matter but it's limited and I'm not very skilled in it. Second, I use people's own fears against them. I can sense people worst fear and I can create it and make people think their greatest fear is standing there," I explained as we turned a corner and went up some stairs.

"That's... crazy,"

"It is," I shook my head. "I don't use those abilities anymore, though."

She swallowed and looked down at the ground. "At least yours is that you kill people by one prolonged touch,"

I looked over at her. "That's your power?" She merely nodded so I placed my hand on her shoulder which she tensed at. "I'm sorry if I sounded snotty. It's just every other mutant has these amazing powers and mine just seems so bland. I feel as if my powers are unfair to others in a fight so I don't even use them."

"You fought that beast-man back there,"

"That's Sabretooth," I informed. "And I'm a martial artist."

"Do you really think you could teach me a few things?"

"Definitely. After your classes tomorrow go to the third floor, it's the last room to the left," I stopped at a room and opened it up. "Here's your room. If your friend decides to stay when he wakes up, his will be down the hall. There should be a pair of jogging pants and a hoodie in there and I will see to clothes are brought to you. I assume the professor gave you your class schedule?"

"He has," She said as she walked into the room and glanced around it. "This is all mine?"

"Yep, until another female student arrives, you've got your own room," I glanced at the clock. It was hitting one-thirty in the morning. "Now, if you excuse me, I have to go sleep. You should rest also, but no sneaking out and going into rooms that you know you shouldn't be in. The professor's a telepath, so he'll immediately know if you do."

"O-Okay,"

I started to walk off, but stopped. "By the way, you'll be eating with me in the morning and I can give you some fighting strategies. I'll come get you around nine." With that I walked off and went upstairs to wait around in my room for dawn.

* * *

The next morning Rogue and I discussed combat over breakfast. I hardly got any sleep since I had insomnia Scott and Jean joined us for a while and we kept a smooth conversation going with Rogue, though she quieted when they were there, I still was able to speak with her. Before long she had to go to class and Jean went to check up on Logan. Scott and I headed to go train.

"You're friendly with Rogue," Scott observed as I threw knives at the targets that were about twelve feet away. We were practicing aim.

"So?"

"So you usually stay away from students unless you are teaching them defense,"

"Well, I guess Rogue reminds me of myself," I said as I threw two more knives at the targets, nearly getting a bullseye. "A younger, more country version of myself."

"I can see what you mean," He nodded. "It has nothing to do with the fact the other mutant she was with is handsome?"

I glanced over him. "You know I'm not one to loose my head over a guy, Scott,"

"Yes, but I saw you looking at him back on the Blackbird,"

I rolled my eyes as I went over to the target and yanked the knives out. "I wasn't looking at him like that,"

"I'm not blind, Jo,"

"How do you know? If you even tried to read the eye charts you would fry them before you were even able to, so I'm pretty sure you're legally blind," I turned towards him and started juggling the knives. "Do you remember when we were younger and you said, 'The day you are able to juggle, I will eat an entire stick of butter'?"

We both laughed a bit. He finally said, "I think you have me confused with Alex,"

"Right," I said as I caught all the knives without hurting myself. "Anyways, I think Rogue could be a member of the X-Men. She could be an asset."

"You think so?"

"Yeah, I mean, even if she _doesn't_ want to use her powers, I can teach her everything I know," I walked back over to him. "It'll be a few years, but she'll do well."

"You've known her about eleven hours and you're already expecting so much from her,"

"Well, I could blame that on my mother or father, but seeing as I don't know either of them, it doesn't really work out like that,"

Scott looked away from me. "I'm sure the professor is not telling you about your father for a good reason,"

"I know he is, Scott, everything he does is for a good reason, but I feel like I don't know who I am since I don't know who I came from,"

He placed his hands on the side on my arms. "You're Josephine Edie Xavier, one of the two amazing women in the world,"

"Right next to Jean, I suppose?"

"You are,"

"You're full of crap, you know that, right?" I playfully pushed him back and started to walk away. "Don't you have something else to do than act like I'm your favorite person?"

"Well―" Suddenly I froze on the spot and felt my heartbeat accelerate. **Logan, **Charles' voice said in my head and I ran out of the room with Scott on my heels.

I rushed to the bottom level where I bumped into Ororo. "Come with me!" I said as I grabbed her hand and yanked her towards where Charles was leading me.

"What's going on?" Ororo asked.

"I have no clue," Scott responded as we stopped at the door.

"He's not a threat," I said before I opened the door and walked in with them trailing behind me. Logan was standing a couple of feet away from the door, still close enough to notice when we entered.

Logan's expression when he saw us was unimpressed. He barely glanced at me. "May I present Ororo Monroe, also called Storm... " Charles said from his spot in front of the desk.

Ororo gave a short nod to him. "Hello," She moved over to Charles' side.

"Scott Summers, also called Cyclops," Cyclops offered his hand to Logan, but he just stared at it. Charles spoke again. "And Josie Xavier,"

My eyes didn't leave Logan the entire time. He was tall and the good size muscular. "What? No nickname for you?" He snorted. I didn't like the harsh look in his eyes. He looked at us as if we were mentally insane.

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Well, you're just oozing with charm, aren't you?"

Charles interrupted Logan before he could say another word. "They saved your life. You're at my mansion, a school for mutants. You'll be safe here from Magneto,"

Logan's brows furrowed and he looked down at Charles. "What's a Magneto?"

"A very powerful mutant who believes a war is brewing between mutants and the rest of humanity," Charles glanced over at me before focusing his attention completely on Logan. "I've been following his activities for some time. The man who attacked you is an associate of his named Sabretooth."

Logan sneered, "Sabretooth?" He then pointed at Ororo. "Storm." He made a clicking noise as he looked back to Charles. "What do they call you? 'Wheels?'"

"Actually, he's Professor X," I snapped, stepping closer to Logan. "And, if it weren't for him, we would have never arrived in time to save you from Sabretooth."

"Josie," Charles gave me a pointed look that didn't affect me whatsoever as I glared at Logan. All the initial attraction I had for Logan was now officially gone.

Logan scoffed. "This is the stupidest thing I've ever heard," He began to leave, but Scott was standing in the doorway, not moving. "'Cyclops,' right?" Logan grabbed him and I was immediately by their side, a dagger to Logan's throat. "You want to get out of my way?"

"Let go of him," I ordered.

"I don't really take well to sharp things at my throat,"

"Funny, I don't really take well to uptight strangers threatening my friends,"

Logan turned towards me, completely pissed off, and started to say something when Charles said something that stopped him in his tracks. "Logan. It's been almost fifteen years, hasn't it?"

You could see Charles' words chilled Logan to the bone. He actually released Scott and looked back at him. I put the dagger away but stayed near just in case. Charles continued, "Moving from place to place, with no idea who you really are?"

Logan practically growled, "Shut up!"

"Give me a chance. I may be able to help you find what you're looking for," Charles requested.

"How do you know―?" Logan's confusion and anger were evident at this point. "What is this place?"

"I'm going to take my leave," I gritted my teeth before practically running out of the room. I didn't stop until I had made it to my sparring room. I laid down on the mat and forced myself to breath.

What was that guy's problem? Usually when we save a mutant, they're so kind and thankful. Logan acted like it was a chore to even look at us.

I guess it was longer than I thought just lying there because before I knew it Rogue was walking in here in some jogging pants and a hoodie with another mutant, Bobby, who I've briefly spoken to in the past. "Josie?" Rogue rushed to my side. "What's wrong?"

I sat up and waved her off. "I'm fine, nothing to sweat about,"

"What is it?"

"Don't worry about it, I'm fine," I said as I stood to my feet. I looked over at Bobby. "You're Bobby, right? The ice guy?"

"That's me,"

"You haven't been in my class this semester," I said with narrowed eyes.

"No, I have it next semester,"

"Well, then I'm Josie," I introduced myself and glanced over at Rogue. "AKA Rogue's self-named mentor." She smiled back at me. Clapping my hands together, I looked around at the gym. "So, after warmups, do you want to work out or go straight into defense? You both don't look very muscular, so I want to see how much you can handle on the bench."

"Then I guess that's where we should start," Bobby said, glancing over at Rogue with an unsure look.

"After warmups," Rogue added, giving me a smile.

I looked in between the two before nodding. "Let's start then,"

* * *

During our break, Charles brought that new mutant Logan - or Wolverine, I didn't really care at this point - to see where the gym was. As soon as he entered, Rogue ran up to him and threw her arms around him.

"Hey kid," He said gruffly. I scoffed and stood from my seat on the mat. "Aren't you supposed to be learning something rather than sitting around?"

I glared at him. "We're on a break," Rogue quickly said before I could get a word in.

He looked over at me. "Are you even a trained fighter?"

I looked at Charles, silently telling him that I was going to hit this man if he didn't shut up. "I am, and I could easily take you, _Wolverine_,"

"I highly doubt that,"

"Then maybe we should see for ourselves," I took a step towards him, my fists clenching up.

"No, Josie, not now. I need to get Logan down to the lab for some tests," Charles said.

"Well, I'll come with you then," I said, keeping a scowl on my face before I turning to Rogue and Bobby, my face softening for a moment but I made sure to keep a stern face. "You two continue to lift some weights, okay? I'll be back once John Doe over here gets his checkup." I turned towards Charles to see they had already started to head out. I quickly ran to catch up with them. "So I talked to Hank yesterday," I said as I did so.

"Yes, he mentioned that on the phone,"

I glanced down at Charles. "Then I guess he also told you that I know that you think Magneto's up to something,"

"Perhaps now is not the time to discuss this, Josie," Charles said as we got into the elevator. "I'm sure our guest doesn't want to hear this."

I looked up at Logan, grimacing at him. "I'm sure he doesn't mind. He doesn't seem like the most informed person anyway, so he probably has no clue what we're even talking about,"

Logan scowled at me. "'The most informed'? That's the best insult you could come up with?"

"See, Charles? He's not that smart," I looked down at Charles. **Josie, control yourself. He's our guest, you shouldn't be treating him like that, **Charles projected into my mind.

"Well, you're no Einstein either," Logan muttered as he turned forward. With a scowl I faced forwards and bit my tongue. Stupid men. They're absolutely insufferable.

We got down to the lab and while Jean gave Logan x-rays we waited patiently. "Sabretooth just... ran away," I said after explaining to Charles what had happened when we came across Rogue and Logan. "It's just so odd. I've fought him a few times before, but this time he had a fearful look on his face."

"Did you use your powers on him?" Charles' brow furrowed. "Did you use your power on him?"

I shrugged, looking over at Scott and Storm. "I mean, I could've without realizing it, but you know I don't like using my powers in a fight."

"I'm sure that you didn't mean to, Josie," Charles looked up at me. "You are your mother's daughter, after all."

"Yes, according to you, she liked a fair fight, too," I said with a slight eye roll. Charles didn't always talk about my mom, but when he did it was to say in what ways I was like her. Which was actually a lot. It made me wander if I was like what my biological father was in any way. "You know, Professor, I'd say you were pretty close with my birth parents," I added as I leaned against the wall.

"Well, why do you think I was given custody of you?" Charles said. "Your mother wanted the person she trusted most to raise you the way she would."

"Wait, she knew she was going to die giving birth to me?" I asked, glancing over at Scott.

"The doctors said it was unsafe, but she was determined she was going to have you," Charles got a far away look on his face. Our conversation was interrupted by Jean entering the room with Logan's x-rays.

"The metal is an alloy called adamantium. Supposedly indestructible. It's been surgically grafted to his entire skeleton," She said as she put them up for us to all see. We gathered around and studied the pictures.

"How could he have survived a procedure like that?" Storm asked.

"His mutation. He has uncharted regenerative capability which enables him to heal rapidly. This also makes his age impossible to determine," Jean explained.

I looked down at Charles. "So he could very well be older than you, Char,"

"Who did this to him?" Scott asked.

"He doesn't know. Nor does he remember anything about his life before it happened,"

Charles spoke up. "Experimentation on mutants. It's not unheard of. But I've never seen anything like this before,"

"What do you think Magneto wants with him then?" I asked as I looked back up at the photos.

"I'm not entirely sure it's him Magneto wants,"

I turned towards him. "Rogue? You think that Magneto wants Rogue?"

"It's a possibility we cannot rule out,"

"She's a child! Surely he has more of a heart than that,"

He grimaced slightly as he turned to Jean. "Why don't we go run some more tests? Josie, you should go back up to teach Rogue some more defensive moves. I'm afraid she might need them,"

I looked at him, my expression probably showing my mixed emotions before I left the room to do just as he thought I should.

* * *

After I taught Rogue and Bobby for a while longer we ate dinner together. I could already see that Bobby was enamored by her and I found it endearing. After dinner I let Bobby walk Rogue to her room with the promise nothing would happen and watched them go off.

Throughout my twenty-nine years, I hadn't ever been in love. There had been a few hopefuls over the years, some mutants and some humans, but they none of them ever lasted long. My first crush had been on Scott, but after he fell deeply in love with Jean I had made myself stop thinking about him like that. Jean, after all, was like my sister.

"He likes her," Scott said as he walked up to my side.

"She most definitely likes him," I said with a small smile.

"She's only been here a day and you act like she's your daughter,"

I looked over at Scott with a roll of my eyes. "I'm merely helping out a fellow mutant,"

"And it has nothing to do with the fact she was with Logan?"

I put my mouth into a hard line and folded my arms as I turned towards him. "Jean put you up to this, didn't she?"

"She just wants you to be happy, Jo. She thinks you should find someone," He folded his arms too.

"I don't need anyone, Scott. I'm okay how I am now: alone," I started walking to go find Jean; I needed to speak with her about why she was trying to play matchmaker.

"Oh, come on―"

"No, don't even try to argue with me," I snapped at him as I turned down another hall. "We have much bigger things to worry about than getting me a date."

"It was Jean's idea, not mine,"

"Well, she needs to learn to keep out of my nonexistent love life," I said and started to walk faster but Scott grabbed my arm and turned me to face a room where Jean had her hands at Logan's temples.

After a second, Jean seemed to be freaking out and yanked away from him. "What do you see?"

She turned and saw us in the doorway. "Scott, Josie," Jean glanced back at Logan. "Good night, Logan." She left the room, but Scott and I remained in the doorway.

Logan looked at with a small smirk. "You gonna to tell me to stay away from your girl?"

"If I had to do that, she wouldn't be my girl," Scott said.

"Hmm, well, then I guess you've got nothing to worry about, do you, Cyclops?" Logan said as he stepped closer, his tone taunting and condescending.

"Yeah, it must burn you up that a boy like me saved your life, huh? Gotta be careful. Might not be there next time," Scott started to leave, but looked back one more time, "Oh, and Logan - stay away from my girl. Come on, Jo."

"Give me a moment," I said to him and he gave me an unsure look. "Oh, go on, I'll see you in the morning. Jean's waiting for you."

He gave Logan a warning glare before leaving the room. As soon as he was out of sight Logan spoke again, "I thought Jean was his girl,"

I looked back at him with a scowl. "She is,"

"By the way you looked at him―"

"Whoa, no. I'm not in love with Scott,"

"Really? 'Cause―"

"You're an arse. I honestly can't believe I was just going to try to make a truce with you," I snapped before I walked away from the doorway. I stormed up to my "classroom" - ignoring all the people I passed - and started punching on the punching bags.

"Josie?" I ignored Charles' voice from behind me. I heard him sigh before his voice moved closer. "Your thoughts are quite defeating right now."

I continued my beating on the bag. "Well, you know I've never minded you reading my mind,"

"Another way you're like your mother,"

I growled, stopping suddenly and turning towards her. "Just stop talking about her, Charles. I don't want to hear how I'm so much like the woman I practically killed before I even took my first breath. I don't want to hear the love in your tone when you talk about her._ I don't want to talk about her. "_

He nodded solemnly. "I understand,"

I blinked back tears in my eyes. "Thank you," I muttered before walking out of the room. I didn't get halfway down the hall before I ran straight into Logan. "What the heck?" I grumbled as I smashed into his chest. "Why are you up here and not in bed?" I demanded.

"I came to apologize," He admitted with a little reluctance. "I had no right to say what I did... Are you crying?"

I looked away from him. "It's allergies, don't worry about it. Everything's cool between us," I said before I moved past him. My knuckles were bleeding because I hadn't tapped them up so they were my priority right now. Once I got to the kitchen only did I realize that he had followed me. "Uh, can I help you?" I said as I turned on the cold water. I put my hands under it.

"I... I wanted to thank you for taking in Rogue,"

I shrugged, not bothering to look up at him. "She reminds me of myself, I guess,"

"With a Southern accent,"

I chuckled softly, thinking back to what I had said to Scott. "True. Can you get me a wash rag?"

He did as I asked and watched as I cleaned my bloody knuckles. "I didn't make you cry and mess up your knuckles, did I?"

I rolled my eyes. "Trust me, you had nothing to do with the tears, Wolverine,"

"But the bloody knuckles?"

"Well, I think it's much better than beating your face in," I pointed out as I dried my hands off and put a thin layer of gauze around my knuckles. "Even if it's not as satisfying."

"Like you could,"

I turned towards him. "Don't try me, I could take you down within a minute. My power is the manipulation of dark matter. Do you know what dark matter is?"

"Why don't you remind me?"

"It's a substance that is scientifically theorized to make up most of the physical universe. I can manipulate gravity - I can make anything appear such as shadows or anything. I can also can tap into your greatest fear and could theoretically create it. My power's not one to be trifled with,"

"But you don't use it?"

"Well, it's never too late to, if you insist," I said as I folded my arms.

"Why? Do you know how many people you could take down with that?"

I slightly shook my head. "You wouldn't understand. You can magically heal and you have sharp claws... You just wouldn't get it," I walked past him, calling back, "By the way, Scott's like an older brother to me. You suggesting that I'm in love with him kinda makes me want to barf so let's avoid that again, shall we?"

I left him in the room and headed back to mine. I had no clue what was going to happen that night, or I wouldn't have let Logan go to bed.

**|•••|**


End file.
